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I love that song [House of the Rising Sun] but it took me awhile to get it too. Just doesn't look that hard either.

I really enjoyed this one too, but I saw immediately that I had to memorize the LH chord progression from the very beginning (and luckily it's short), otherwise I would never learn it. I still hesitate here and there.

One thing I like about Alfred is that sometimes a song is easier than the one before, it allows me to feel better about my playing. Right now I'm doing You're in My Heart and find it far easier.

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Diana & Wally - Yamaha W110BWMartha Argerich... is an incarnation of the artistic metaphor of the "eternal feminine" that draws us upward. (Sergio Sablich)

Thanks for the repertoire ideas MaryAnn. I'm going to supplement some of those for Alfred. I've also found a new Ludovico Einaudi piece that looks like it will take a while to learn which will keep me motivated.

Right now I'm between House of the Rising Sun and Waves of the Danube and all those pieces are about 85% so I'm just working through them all. It's surprising how well muscle memory sticks with you as I learnt them all a year ago and they're going by pretty quickly. Hopefully I can take advantage of this bank holiday weekend and make some real progress because some of the pieces later on sound like they might be nice to play.

House of the Rising Sun can be practised in four separate phrases. Practise the first phrase using block chords in LH. When your hand is used to the motions from one chord to the next and all the fingers go to their target note in one beat put it back into apreggio form. Work each phrase this way and (only) then put the four phrase together as one song.

I bought Adult Basic book 2, but it's not all in one. Is it the same level? Are the pieces similar? Not sure what I'm missing or if this is the right place for me.

For what it's worth, I like the way it progresses. I was just playing songs, but didn't feel like I was learning any technique and I was frustrated. This book is better.

I've not seen the book that you have, but my understanding is that they are basically the same book, but the All In One has more theory lessons. You might want to pick up the accompanying theory book also.

I'm having fun with the key of D Major, it looks like the pieces here are easier and more pleasant than most of the previous ones. I wonder if they do this to give the student some rest and a sense of achievement!Anyway, I really enjoyed Divertimento in D and Brahms' Lullaby (which looks quite close to the real thing, isn't it?). Now on to Lonesome Road and then the chromatic scale.

What about you guys?

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Diana & Wally - Yamaha W110BWMartha Argerich... is an incarnation of the artistic metaphor of the "eternal feminine" that draws us upward. (Sergio Sablich)

I'm having fun with the key of D Major, it looks like the pieces here are easier and more pleasant than most of the previous ones. I wonder if they do this to give the student some rest and a sense of achievement!Anyway, I really enjoyed Divertimento in D and Brahms' Lullaby (which looks quite close to the real thing, isn't it?). Now on to Lonesome Road and then the chromatic scale.

What about you guys?

We are in exactly the same spot!A bit of rest seems right. My teacher is also out of town for a week, and my private client today is cancelled, so I am practically on vacation!

I want to prep the current crop of D major pieces to play them well when my lesson comes around. I've been gradually able to avoid complete catastrophe in front of my teacher, but still, my playing has been a bit botched an bungled, so I'm hoping to raise the bar a little!

_________________________Ladies and Gentlemen: This is not a competition, merely an exhibition. No wagering please.

I bought Adult Basic book 2, but it's not all in one. Is it the same level? Are the pieces similar? Not sure what I'm missing or if this is the right place for me.

The Adult Basic shares most of the same pieces with the Adult All-In-One, but the theory and technique are in separate books in the Basic series. In the All-In-One series pieces, theory and technique are combined in one book, but AIUI go into less depth on theory and technique than in the separate Basic series of books.

I should finish up Burlesq this week...which I just realized is on page 100 of AIO. So that's a milestone, right?

Started on Arkansas Traveler yesterday.

gahdzila - I don't know whether you realize this, but when you're playing Burlesq, you're playing a cleverly-diguised version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" or as it was known then - "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman". Mozart was 5 and a half or 6 when his father composed it, to give his kid something to do. If you play TTLS in G (GGDDEED) and then start Burlesq very slowly, you can clearly hear what he did! Good job, Dad! Better than having to hear TTLS over ... and over... ad infinitem!

Of course, when Mozart was 25, he did his 12 variations of "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman" K300e(265) which will give your fingers and brain a real workout!

malkin - I sense that you thought my last remark was meant to be disparaging, but that's not the case at all! I learned Bourlesq less than a year ago and put a lot of work into it! Months after I learned it, I found out about the "TTLS" connection. I just find it interesting that Mozart played around with it as an adult and came up with those variations. But, by the time I can make K300 sound as musical as the recording I have of it, I'll have been dead for 200 years!

It's definitely recording time for me, so I can see if I'm doing something right. Usually when I have a few pieces ready I unplug the headphones from my DP when family and neighbors are around. My fingers start to mess up and the sounds get uneven. To avoid making too much noise I don't use the right touch and start missing keys... this gives me a much needed reality check. I must say that my DP doesn't sound very nice where it is placed now, against a high concrete wall. But well, I want to play piano for somebody to listen, not just for myself, so I need this exercise.

Can't wait to get to Hava Nagila, I love klezmer music, it's one of the reason why sooner or later I want to buy an electric fiddle!

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Diana & Wally - Yamaha W110BWMartha Argerich... is an incarnation of the artistic metaphor of the "eternal feminine" that draws us upward. (Sergio Sablich)

Puff... I did a few recordings today, and how depressing that is! Fingers going everywhere but on the right keys, weird dynamics, uneven tempo... The red dot makes me more nervous than I already am. Well at least I can say that's the reason why my playing doesn't sound very nice I think I have about 150 hours of practice behind me by now. When will things start to get easier? Never, I guess, because the things one studies get more and more difficult.

Working on chromatic scales now... I got Village Dance down very quickly but as soon as I speed up the tempo I start hitting the wrong notes. Can't wait to go through the huge part on triad inversions to reach the two-part playing lessons culminating with Chopin's etude.

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Diana & Wally - Yamaha W110BWMartha Argerich... is an incarnation of the artistic metaphor of the "eternal feminine" that draws us upward. (Sergio Sablich)

Chromatic scales: Do they give successive 1-3 with an occasional 2 thrown in? The 1 is for white keys, the 3 is for black keys, and the 2 is thrown in to help 1 across the neighbouring white note pairs E-F and B-C.

What I find hard about it is descending in the RH, or ascending in the LH, knowing when to follow 3 with 2 as I come to the white note pairs. I have to keep mental track of where I am. It would be nice if eventually I just felt the rhythm: two 1-3's, then a 2, then three 1-3's, then a 2, etc.

It's easier for me going the other way -- ascending in the RH or descending in the LH -- because then 3 is always followed by 1, and I can feel when my 1 is starting a white note pair and should be followed by 2.

Chromatic scales: Do they give successive 1-3 with an occasional 2 thrown in? The 1 is for white keys, the 3 is for black keys, and the 2 is thrown in to help 1 across the neighbouring white note pairs E-F and B-C.

Yep, that's it.

A related issue-- I was telling my husband a few days ago that sometimes when I read an analog clock, I think 5:00 and 7:00 look the same. And the trick of identifying your left hand, because when you hold up your thumb and index finger, on the left they form and L... well, I have to look at both sides and then I can figure out which L is really the correct one, because the one on the right looks ok to me too.

Dance class? Watch out and don't stand too close, because I could go the wrong direction at any time!

_________________________Ladies and Gentlemen: This is not a competition, merely an exhibition. No wagering please.

What I find hard about it is descending in the RH, or ascending in the LH, knowing when to follow 3 with 2 as I come to the white note pairs. I have to keep mental track of where I am. It would be nice if eventually I just felt the rhythm: two 1-3's, then a 2, then three 1-3's, then a 2, etc.

Hadn't thought of that - rhythm, that's the key!And then, it's odd how sometimes faster is easier - those few lucky times when I stop thinking and I just do.

Circus March for me tomorrow.

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Diana & Wally - Yamaha W110BWMartha Argerich... is an incarnation of the artistic metaphor of the "eternal feminine" that draws us upward. (Sergio Sablich)

I went back and played the Chopin Étude again. I was really sick of it by the time I finished it because my teacher was more nitpicky than usual and it seemed to take me *forever* to get it where she wanted it. But playing it again now, I realize how nice it actually is. It falls under my fingers nicely now, and I can make it sound really nice, if I do say so myself! This is the first time in forever that I've found a piece in Alfred's that I like enough to keep playing for pleasure. Maybe one day I can play the real version, but that's a LONG ways off, methinks! It gets pretty crazy about halfway through the piece!

All done with Burlesq. Should finish up Arkansas Traveller this week....it's relatively easy. I've got it under the fingers pretty well now, just needs a bit more speed.

I haven't posted in this thread for a really long time. I think I had gotten up to "House of the Rising Sun". I was hitting a wall - big time, and was really discouraged. Add to that some physical problems, a few trips for family events, and entertaining several grandchildren over the summer, and I haven't touched my piano more than a couple of times since sometime in May. I realized as I played around with it this weekend that I have forgotten so much that working in Book 2 isn't do-able for me anymore, so I have started a review of Book 1 today. I got as far as "Lone Star Waltz" today, and I think this review is just what I needed. Moral of the story is - don't stop playing.

Musetta's Waltz. This one seems a little harder to me....probably just my perspective, since Arkansas Traveler seemed easy to me. I think this one is going to be a nice sounding little piece when I finish it. It will probably take me a couple of weeks, though.